Suffolk New College held a special event during National Apprenticeship Week to shine a line on the importance of apprenticeships.

The college also took the opportunity to champion the role of some of their staff in providing training opportunities.

Employers and apprenticeship assessors were also on hand to hand out independent advice to current students and visitors to the college on the day.

Jon Tone-Burton is the apprenticeship co-ordinator at Suffolk New College. He said: “The idea was to showcase our apprenticeships, by allowing our experienced assessor team to provide information, advice and guidance as well as to inform students how to apply for them.

“We currently have options in a variety of sectors which include business administration, hospitality & catering, carpentry & joinery, hairdressing, beauty, plumbing, electrotechical, motor vehicle, sports and many more. We are always looking at expanding our offer, and look to the development of new standards to see if there are any opportunities to do this. In my opinion, apprenticeships are great as apprentices gain a qualification, earn a salary and learn valuable transferable work skills along the way.

“As an organisation we see the value in Apprenticeships for both apprentices and the organisation and this can be seen by the amount of apprentices that we employ as support staff.”

Among them those attending was 18 year old Amie Double, from Ipswich, who is studying on a level three business administration apprenticeship and works for Suffolk New College.

She said, “I chose this path as I thought it would be a good opportunity to learn and develop new skills. It hasn’t disappointed”

And 17 year old Matthew King is on a level two apprenticeship in finance.

He said: “I started in the summer of 2018 and it’s been interesting. I want to earn and learn and eventually become an accountant. After completing this I want to progress onto a level three and possibly level four qualification.”

Marketing manager at Suffolk New College, Craig Shimmon added: “Ultimately, taking on an apprentice is a great way of building your businesses. You get to give people a job and then watch them become an integral part of your company. You can help people grow and develop, and with support and a bit of luck, your business will grow and develop at the same time. National Apprenticeship Week is a great campaign and we are delighted to be able to support it’s mission.”

For more information about apprenticeships either at or with Suffolk New College, you can contact The Workspace Team by emailing apprenticeships@suffolk.ac.uk or by calling 01473 382922 or visit www.suffolk.ac.uk